- Venezuela: Regime receives first revenues from oil sales to US regime
Source: United Press International
“Venezuela received $300 million Tuesday as part of revenues from oil sales to the United States, interim President Delcy Rodriguez said on social media. The funds represent the first tranche of a $500 million oil deal announced by President Donald Trump after the United States captured President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. Rodriguez said the resources will be channeled through the national banking system and the Central Bank of Venezuela to ‘protect workers’ purchasing power’ and stabilize the foreign exchange market amid inflationary pressures.” (01/21/26)
- Nigeria: Ambush kills six regime troops
Source: ABC News
“Five soldiers and one police officer have been killed in an ambush in northwest Nigeria, the Nigerian army said on Tuesday. The attack occurred in Zamfara state on Monday, army spokesman David Adewusi said in a statement. … Northern Nigeria has been the hardest-hit part of the country, with a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions over the recent months, alongside an insurgency in the northeast. Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law.” (01/21/26)
- Steak ‘n Shake Offers Employees Bitcoin Bonus Program
Source: Bitcoin.com
“Starting March 1, Steak ‘n Shake will provide hourly employees at its company-operated restaurants with a bitcoin bonus of $0.21 for every hour worked. The BTC rewards will vest over a two-year period, allowing employees to collect their bitcoin after meeting the vesting requirement. The initiative, supported by Fold, reflects the company’s commitment to employee incentives while embracing digital assets.” (01/21/26)
https://news.bitcoin.com/steak-n-shake-offers-employees-bitcoin-bonus-program/
- Canada: Court sets aside TikTok shutdown order
Source: CTV News [Canada]
“The Federal Court has set aside a government order for TikTok to wind down operations in Canada, meaning the social media company can keep running its offices here while the industry minister conducts another review. In 2024, the Liberal government ordered TikTok to close its offices in Canada, citing national security concerns, but stopped short of banning the app for users. On Wednesday, a federal judge shelved the government’s order and requested that Industry Minister Melanie Joly conduct a new review. A TikTok Canada spokesperson says the tech company welcomes the decision and looks forward to working with Joly.” (01/21/26)
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/article/federal-court-sets-aside-tiktok-canada-shutdown-order/
- Palestine: Three Gaza Journalists Murdered in Israeli Strike
Source: Barron’s
“An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck ‘suspects’ operating a drone. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. … According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them. Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called the strike ‘a dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement.'” (01/21/26)
- Peru: Interim president Jose Jeri faces fiscal probe 100 days into job
Source: United Press International
“Peru’s interim president, Jose Jeri, is facing a preliminary investigation over his dealings by the Attorney General’s Office just 100 days into his term after replacing ousted former President Dina Boluarte. Jeri has come under scrutiny amid suspicions that he may have sought to favor a businessman of Chinese origin in award contracts without a public bidding process. The probe began Thursday with allegations of illegal sponsorship of interests and influence peddling after reports that Jeri held meetings with businessman Zhihua Yang outside the Government Palace that were not recorded on the official presidential agenda, the newspaper La Republica reported.” (01/21/26)
- Japan: Abe’s assassin sentenced to life in prison
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to life imprisonment on Wednesday. The case has revealed decades of cozy ties between Japan’s governing party and a controversial South Korean church. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, earlier pleaded guilty to killing Abe in July 2022 during his election campaign speech in the western city of Nara. … Yamagami pleaded guilty to murder in the trial that started in October.” (01/21/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/shinzo-abe-shooting-death-trial-9.7054161
- Greenland Is Not “Our Territory” And It Never Will Be
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison“The U.S. has never needed to own Greenland to secure North America, and there is nothing to negotiate. Greenland is not ‘our territory,’ it never has been, and it never will be if the people of Greenland have anything to say about it. The president is a deranged revisionist who wants to ‘reclaim’ territory that has never belonged to our country. The president’s claim that his expansionist mania has something to do with security is a lie. Trump’s fixation on Greenland is akin to Smeagol’s desire for the Ring. ‘We wants it’ is the sole motivation behind this. The president is driven by nothing but gnawing greed. Trump said that he won’t use force to steal Greenland. No one should believe him when he says that, but it is no consolation when he is willing to use coercion and threats to intimidate the people of Greenland and Denmark.” (01/21/26)
- The Pressure Cooker of State Dominion
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Rudolph Kohn“If you happened to be a fly on the wall at a Libertarian National Convention, you might see this happen: Someone will take a microphone and ask for a point of information. Then, he will ask, ‘Is taxation theft?’ The Chair will then answer, ‘Yes.’ Then the convention-goers will laugh, and clap, and pass over this momentary interruption, and get back to deciding who they want to run for the positions at the head of this gang of thieves. Why expend so much time, money, and energy trying to gain seats at the top of this band of robbers? Because the alternative that every voluntary organization must offer is denied to them: exit. … of all the coercive acts in a state’s arsenal, I argue that the worst is dominion, because it makes all the others possible.” (01/21/26)
- Love liberty, not big government
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“I’m saddened to discover how few people value liberty more than they hate other people and love big government. It wasn’t a surprise, but I still hate to see it. One faction hates gun owners and wants armed government employees to take their guns and kill them if they resist. Another faction hates people who dwell somewhere without government permission and wants armed government employees to kidnap, cage, and evict them. They are happy to see government agents kill these people and their supporters if either of them resist. They don’t realize how similar they are; both want to hand illegitimate power over you and me to government.” (01/21/26)
- Trump Can Prosecute Anyone Now
Source: The Atlantic
by Adam Serwer“A year into Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of Justice has become his private law firm, devoted less to the impartial administration of justice than to blackmailing, intimidating, and persecuting Trump’s foes while selectively enforcing the law to spare allies who break it. … The decision to ignore evidence that demands investigation or prosecution can be equally nefarious, as we’ve seen in Minneapolis, where federal authorities refused to investigate a masked government agent for shooting an unarmed mom in the face, and where half a dozen federal prosecutors have since resigned after being pushed to investigate the woman’s widow instead. These are all examples of the executive branch abusing its prosecutorial discretion. And thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court, Trump is likely to get away with it.” (01/21/26)
- California’s “Billionaire Tax” Could Bite Harder Than Advertised
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“California’s potential adoption of a one-time 5 percent ‘billionaire tax’ on the net worth of high-value individuals is already sending wealthy residents fleeing for the exits. By one estimate, at least a trillion dollars has moved beyond the reach of state officials. But a new analysis says the tax may be even more onerous than advertised. Californians may need to get used to the sight of moving vans leaving the state.” (01/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/21/californias-billionaire-tax-could-bite-harder-than-advertised/
- Australia’s Frightening New “Hate Speech” Laws Clearly Aimed At Pro-Palestine Groups
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Australia’s Labor government has successfully passed a ‘hate speech’ bill that’s plainly aimed, at least in part, at suppressing pro-Palestine organizations as ‘hate groups.’ Free speech advocates are sounding the alarm about the new laws, saying their extremely vague wording, lack of procedural fairness and low thresholds for implementation mean groups can now be banned if they make people feel unsafe or upset without ever actually posing any physical harm to anyone. For me the most illuminating insight into what these laws are actually designed to do came up in an ABC interview with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on Tuesday. … Rowland was asked by ABC’s David Speers to clarify whether the new laws could see activist groups banned for criticizing Israel and opposing its genocidal atrocities in a way that causes Jewish Australians to feel upset feelings, and she refused to rule out the possibility every single time.” (01/21/25)
- Can Congress subpoena a journalist for reporting a Delta Force commander’s name?
Source: Expression
by Jacob Gaba“On Jan. 7, the House Oversight Committee approved a subpoena for Seth Harp, an investigative journalist and contributing editor at Rolling Stone, for posting information about a Delta Force commander. Congress has broad authority to issue subpoenas. But it must show far more restraint when aiming them at journalists without any evidence of wrongdoing. … Paulina Luna of Florida’s 13th congressional district, who introduced the motion to subpoena Harp, said, ‘Putting a service member and their family in danger is dishonorable and feckless. Leaking classified information demands explanation and a criminal investigation.’ But publishing the news, even when the news contains classified information, is exactly the role of a journalist. And Rep. Luna did not cite any evidence that Harp broke the law to obtain the information.” (01/21/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/can-congress-subpoena-a-journalist
- In light of harsh repression in Iran, the US should grant Temporary Protected Status to Iranians already here
Source: Niskanen Center
by Idean Salehyan“Over the past several weeks, protests have once again erupted across Iran, driven by a deepening economic crisis and broader demands for political accountability. In response, the Trump administration has issued strong rhetorical support for Iranian protesters and sharply criticized Tehran’s heavy-handed repression. President Trump and senior officials have repeatedly framed the demonstrations as evidence of the regime’s illegitimacy and brutality toward its own people. Yet there is a striking contradiction at the heart of the U.S. response. Even as the administration condemns Iran’s treatment of its citizens, it has suspended asylum hearings, maintained sweeping travel restrictions, and deported Iranian nationals from the United States. These actions undercut Washington’s professed concern for human rights and weaken the credibility of its support for protesters inside Iran.” (01/21/26)
- When Will Democrats Realize That You Can’t Reform Fascism?
Source: the Philadelphia Inquirer
by Will Bunch“Imagine this …. You’re minding your own business, or maybe picking up your kid at their school, when suddenly you find yourself in the middle of a platoon of masked, armed, camouflaged government agents. One thing leads to another, and in a flash, an agent has wrestled you to the ground, and is brandishing a weapon — maybe a Taser if you’re lucky. But what if I told you that lawmakers on Capitol Hill have a solution? They are proposing a brave new world, where now (flat on your back and gasping for air, and perhaps able to bravely manage to free your phone from your pocket) you could scan a federally mandated QR code on the agent’s uniform and find out the identity of the man who is currently pummeling you to within an inch of your life.” (01/21/25)
- Trump Wants to Hit Us with a Huge Tax Hike for His Demented Greenland Dreams
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker“Donald Trump is taking his demented dreams to a new level in his quest to take over Greenland. The man who whined over not getting a Nobel Prize and then followed Hitler propagandist Joseph Goebbels lead in accepting a prize awarded to someone else, has now decided he wants Greenland. Trump is now proposing to whack us with a $75 billion tax increase to put pressure on Denmark and the rest of the EU to give him Greenland. … Well over 90 percent of the cost of a Trump tariff is borne by consumers or importers in the United States, not by the exporting countries. When Trump starts yelling ‘tariff, tariff, tariff,’ he is yelling ‘tax, tax, tax,’ and we’re the ones paying it.” (01/21/26)
- Phasing Out State Income Tax Key to Success in Dying Blue States
Source: Town Hall
by Betsy McCaughey“Across the nation, states are fiercely competing for companies and population by slashing taxes. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is dooming her state to be the loser. In 2026, eight states are cutting their income taxes, and four others are reducing corporate tax rates. South Carolina is pushing ahead on legislation to phase out its income tax entirely over the next few years, joining nine other income-tax-free states. That’s bad news for New York. Saddled with a spendaholic governor and state legislature, New York is becoming increasingly unattractive to newcomers and businesses alike. On Tuesday, Hochul unveiled a record-breaking $260 billion state budget — two and a half times the size of Florida’s, despite Florida’s larger population.” (01/21/25)
- Greenland and the Benjamins
Source: Washington Monthly
“There’s a method behind Trump’s madness and it’s colored green.” (01/21/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/01/21/greenland-and-the-benjamins/
- FBI’s WaPo Investigation Shows How Your Printer Can Snitch on You
Source: The Intercept
by Nikita Mazurov“Federal prosecutors on January 9 charged Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, an IT specialist for an unnamed government contractor, with ‘the offense of unlawful retention of national defense information,’ according to an FBI affidavit. The case attracted national attention after federal agents investigating Perez-Lugones searched the home of a Washington Post reporter. But overlooked so far in the media coverage is the fact that a surprising surveillance tool pointed investigators toward Perez-Lugones: an office printer with a photographic memory.” (01/21/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/21/fbi-washington-post-perez-lugones-natansan-classified/
- Partitioning Iran Would Backfire Spectacularly
Source: The American Conservative
by Eldar Mamedov“ollowing the Islamic Republic’s brutal crackdown on protests this past week, an air of inevitability continues to surround the possibility of American military intervention. But what would such an intervention look like? Voices in U.S. and Israeli media are once again floating the idea of breaking Iran apart along ethnic lines. … This is dangerous nonsense, and America First advocates of realism and restraint in U.S. foreign policy must unambiguously reject it. It is also déjà vu, reminiscent of the political atmosphere that preceded the Iraq debacle — and it promises an even more catastrophic failure in a country four times the size of Iraq.” (01/21/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/partitioning-iran-would-backfire-spectacularly/
- Abolish ICE, and DHS Too
Source: Common Dreams
by Jordan Liz“On a September morning, armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents broke in and raided the home of 15-year-old Marie Justeen Mancha while her mother was running an errand. They blocked the door, accused her of being ‘an illegal,’ and questioned Marie about her and her mother’s legal status. They are both US citizens. This break-in was part of a widespread sweep targeting Hispanic communities in southeast Georgia. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) accused ICE of using ‘Gestapo-like’ tactics to trample ‘on the constitutional rights of every person of Hispanic descent who was unfortunate to be in their way.’ SPLC filed a class-action lawsuit against ICE on behalf of five US citizens. In addition to compensation for property damages, the lawsuit sought a court order to stop ICE from conducting similar raids in the future. Sound familiar? That occurred in 2006, 20 years ago.” (01/21/25)
- Conservatism may be dead, but “Trumpism” hardly exists
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru“During the age of Trump, conservative thinkers have had a recurring tendency to daydream about what might be possible now that the old verities of the right have been unsettled. After Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, two intellectuals hoped for ‘a conservative politics that stresses the national interest abroad and national solidarity at home.’ They went on to outline how Republicans could synthesize the best of pre-Trump conservatism with Trump’s most defensible impulses. I’ve advocated a similar version of nationalism and so find this vision appealing. But as Trump enters the second year of his second term, it is fair to say that it is still only a vision — and not one that has gotten much closer to materializing.” (01/21/26)
- These Schools Are Seeing a January Enrollment Surge
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald“Microschools and other new learning models make it easier for dissatisfied students and families to shift to a new school midyear.” (01/21/26)
https://fee.org/articles/these-schools-are-seeing-a-january-enrollment-surge/
- FDR’s Four Freedoms and the Second Bill of Rights
Source: Liberal Currents
by Dennis Lytton“The social welfare state, winning World War II, and building the liberal order after Trump.” (01/21/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/fdrs-four-freedoms-and-the-second-bill-of-rights/
- The Importance of Medieval Rats to Pandemic Profit
Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Bell“The pandemic agenda, important to maintaining a healthy market for mRNA vaccines, is reliant on a general sense of fear and urgency to achieve success. Mitigating against this is the decline in infectious disease and dearth of recent naturally derived pandemics. With Covid-19 fading and looking worryingly unnatural in origin, the pandemic industry is developing an increasing interest in ancient history, when its offerings may have proven more useful.” (01/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-importance-of-medieval-rats-to-pandemic-profit/
- Oz in Fraudland
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Ten days ago, I quoted Veronique de Rugy, warning that Minnesota’s day-care fraud scandal was ‘only the tip of the iceberg.’ Beyond subsidized daycare? Health care, home health care, Medicaid. Fraud, fraud, fraud. But it wasn’t just a lone Reason scholar saying it. ‘What we’re seeing in Minnesota … is dwarfed by what I saw in California,’ The Epoch Times quotes Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Minnesota, Dr. Oz said, ‘is just the tip of the iceberg.'” (01/21/26)
- Overturning the Twentieth Century?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert G Natelson“Elite opinion aside, the Supreme Court has not aggressively attacked the bad precedents of the past century. Maybe it should.” (01/21/26)
- Don Lemon and his church-storming mob must face Ku Klux Klan, FACE Act charges
Source: Fox News
by Mike Davis“The freedom of worship is a cornerstone value of our Republic, enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Last Sunday, a group of anti-ICE agitators violated this most sacred right when they stormed into Cities Church in St. Paul, MN, during church services to protest the pastor’s supposed ties to ICE. This mob of leftist bigots included fired CNN anchor Don Lemon, who stunningly claimed they (somehow) had the First Amendment right to target, trespass into, terrify and disrupt a church service – even based upon the race and religion of the congregants. … For his outrageous criminal behavior and total lack of remorse, Lemon must face legal accountability – including federal felony charges under the FACE Act and Ku Klux Klan Act. In short, Lemon must go to federal prison – and for years.” (01/21/25)
- Bodies of Evidence
Source: Quillette
by Patrick Whittle“Hitler left blood. Richard III left bones. Lenin left an entire body, preserved like a specimen. For centuries, historians and biographers have understood the powerful by scrutinising their words and letters, dissecting their decisions, and weighing the testimony of those they governed. But the recent rise of ancient DNA research has opened unsettling possibilities for analysing the actions of our rulers both past and present on the basis of their biology. This new perspective complicates but does not replace traditional interpretation; it could challenge old assumptions or further reinforce them. More significantly, however, genetics offers a tantalising — and possibly distorting — shortcut to understanding the minds that have shaped, or are now shaping, our world.” (01/21/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/01/21/bodies-of-evidence-adna-genetics-history-hitler-richard-iii-stalin/
- Quitting International Agreements and Organizations: The Wisdom Varies
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter“Donald Trump has quit numerous international organizations. Many of his choices are good and long overdue. A few others, though, present real dangers to peace.” (01/21/26)
- In 2026, ICE detainees are dying at an alarming rate
Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum, Rebeccas Crosby, & Noel Sims“In 2025, 32 people died in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That figure was the largest in more than two decades and tied for the highest number of deaths among ICE’s detainee population ever. 2026 is only three weeks old, and it’s already shaping up to be much worse. In just 21 days, at least six people have died in ICE custody.” (01/21/26)
- Reason Interview: Freddy Guevara
- The Briefing Podcast with Michael Warren, 01/21/26
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“How We Can Fix America’s Corruption Problem (with Celinda Lake and Daniel Weiner).” (01/21/26)
- The Science of Politics, 01/21/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“How authoritarian parenting attitudes explain our political divides.” (01/21/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-authoritarian-parenting-attitudes-explain-our-political-divides
- The Daily, 01/21/26
Source: New York Times
“On the Front Line of Minnesota’s Fight With ICE.” (01/21/26)
- Rising, 01/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers radar on why California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Dems are avoiding questions about trans athletes in sports.” (01/21/26)
- The David Frum Show, 01/21/26
Source: The Atlantic
“Why Trump Sides With Putin.” (01/21/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/01/david-frum-show-fiona-hill-putin/685690/
- Reasonably Optimistic, 01/21/26
Source: Washington Post
“What it will take to fix American policing.” (01/21/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/what-it-will-take-to-fix-american-policing/